Page 71 of Unlikely Omega

“Shut up. We’re not animals. We have ethics in the army, I’ll have you know.”

“Really.”

“Yes, really. Besides, she’s right, it’s cold out here, you should warm yourselves up by the fire.”

“And you owe us your life.”

“Not sure about that,” the Commander says, grudgingly. “I dealt with the Drakoryas.”

“Barely.” Finn sniffs and reaches up to help me out of the cage. “Your reflexes need some honing.”

“My… fucking hell. You can’t even see me!”

“I see enough,” Finnen mutters.

“Meaning?”

“He means nothing, Commander,” I say, jumping down and standing beside Finn, relieved to be able to stretch my legs again. “Thanks for letting us out.”

“You might have saved my life, you know,” the Commander says quietly. “The priest is right. And call me Taj.”

“Taj,” I whisper, unsure why he’s asking me to be more familiar with him.

“Has anyone seen my back?” he asks.

I open my mouth to ask about this back, but Finnen chuckles.

“I don’t think so. How did you hide the scales all this time in the army?”

Scales.

“They only appear when I’m fighting,” he says, “or so it seems.”

“Is this how?” Finnen asks.

“How what?”

“How your family knew you were one of us.”

“I’m not one of you!”

“You’re a Fae-blood alpha. How are you even denying it now?”

“Fucking hell.” The Commander stalks off toward the hut. “Come inside or stay here and get eaten by the Drakoryas for dinner.”

I shiver. “They eat human flesh?”

“Don’t believe the stories,” Finnen says. “He’s just pissed off. Ari…”

I grab his hand. “Let’s go. It’s now or never if we want to escape. This is our chance to go.”

“Right you are.” Finn squeezes my hand back, and we run.

We run through darkness, occasionally startled and blinded by branching lightning.

Well, I get blinded. Finn is faster and seems to see where he’s going, whereas I, the person with sight, cannot see even the tip of my nose. I’d say he’s in his element, but I doubt it. I’d think any blind man would rather not be running full speed on unknown terrain.

My breath echoes in my ears as we stumble over rocks and fallen branches, hollows and small creeks. The sound of a gurgling stream sounds briefly, only to be shattered by a clap of thunder so loud and so close, I barely swallow a scream.

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